Mini Review – Queijo Vaquinha – Terceira

Welcome to mini review Monday! Today’s mini review is for a cheese shop on the island of Terceira called Queijo Vaquinha. This cheese shop is located in Cinco Ribeiras on the southwest side of the island and features truly delicious Azorean cheese. We sampled the cheese and fell in love with our “cheese sandwich” which we went back for quite a few times while we were visiting.

When you walk in the front door you are greeted with a sample table, so you are able to try the cheeses before you order, and let me forewarn you, they are delicious. Immediately beyond the sample table is the bar area where you order. Now here is the kicker. Don’t be shy! Order a lot and take some to go too. Two cheese sandwiches and two coffees cost us a grand total of 3,60€. Yep that’s it. So order away. For a bit more of a reference, a beer there is 1€, and a soda is 1,10€.

If you choose to eat there, tables are provided along with a very comfortable atmosphere and decor, as well as a porch area with tables if you choose to enjoy the weather instead. This is a place for the locals as well as tourists, so head there expecting to see the local cops or families hanging out. You can also take it to go, which is what we did the first time, and had a picnic at one of the many beautiful pull offs located on the island.

There are a few types of cheese, not as many as you expect being a cheese shop, but enough flavors to satisfy almost anyone’s taste and the cheese is handmade by the owner, his wife and sister in law daily. Terceira island and traditional tie for first place in my opinion and the spicy cheese comes in at a close second.

Conclusion

Would we eat there again? Most definitely and we plan on it in December when we return to the island. It is a little out of the way, so if you don’t have a car rental, you might want to consider a tour group that stops by for lunch or a bus to get there, but it’s really easy to find from the main road.